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Two months later, I'm finally sharing my Outer Banks trip scrapbook for 2026!
We took the "scenic route" down to North Carolina to avoid all of the traffic around Hampton, and it worked pretty well! We were able to stop at Q Daddy's for lunch, which my parents have always raved about. Kenny got barecue and I got chickent tenders, which were SO good!
We also had to stop at Cindy's Kitchen after I saw a TikTok that they sell 12-layer cake! I'm a big fan of Smith Island cake which is similar. We also got a lemon pound cake which was incredible and had an obscene amount of glaze. 😋
Straight to the beach upon check-in! There is nothing like that first deep breath of salt air. I found so many cute tiny shells!
I got a couple of linen sets for the beach and I've lived in them all summer! I also did a whole post on my favorite linen sets.
We got an incredible sunset for my favorite day of the year, the summer solstice. 😍 It was probably the best one the whole week!
Kenny and I alwyas get the tuna bites at Fish Heads - the ones this year were perfectly medium rare and particularly good!
HAPPY TO BE HERE! My brother and his girlfriend were getting in later that night, so they arrived around the time we got back to the house and we stayed up and chatted with them for a while.
Sunday was our first full day and I got to prepping my favorite beach cocktail - sea breezes!
Celebratory pool shots! But none for Laura and Kenny. 😂
Carmen brings these adorable glasses every year and we very much enjoy using them.
POV: you made it to the Outer Banks.
My mom was feeling slap-happy, there are more hilarious outtakes than good pics from this sunset deck session. 😂
I need to frame this one!
My mom and carmen always put together some sort of beach flower arrangement. 😍
My mom makes a mean shrimp boil every year complete with the BEST Virginia sweet corn. I've mentiond this before, but this is the dish that made Kenny and I give up vegetarianism after 7 years. 😂
Monday we woke up to a fresh box of Duck Donuts from my dad! I don't know where this tradition came from, but when I was a kid my parents said if you said "rabbit, rabbit, rabbit" first thing in the morning on the first day of the month, they owed us a donut.... our family group chat always gets a "rabbit, rabbit, rabbit" on the first day of the month, so my dad typically pays us out in a lump sum at the beach each summer. 😂
On Monday, we headed back to Fish Heads for some live music.
My mom declined to join us at the pier, so we sent her this photo. 😂
A band called Govment Chezze was played and they were so much fun! They were a cover band, and the singer kept calling out "CHEEEEEESE!" which we now regularly quote.
My mom likes to have a steamed blue crab picking night every year, so on Tuesday we picked some up at Billy's Seafood which is new to us but apparently a local favorite.
I made sub-in-a-tub for the first timewhile we were at the beach and it was a hit! The salad ingredients can be tweaked to your taste, but I used this dressing recipe and loved it.
Crab night!! It was a rainy evening so we stayed in and watched Pirates of the Carribbean 2 and Jaws. We looked out the window at one point and the house next to us was also watching Pirates of the Carribbean 2 at the same time as us!
Gorgeous photos from Stuart and Carmen's sunrise fishing session! I didn't catch a single sunrise all week because I couldn't get myself up. 😂 I have always at least gotten up for the sunrise the morning we leave, but it was cloudy this year so I went back to bed!
Sea breezes, baby!
Dad!!
Fish tacos! I made mine into more of a burrito bowl. We usually get our fish from Austin Fish Co. We like tilefish or mahi for tacos!
Can't skip a sunset beach walk. 😍
Best beach access in Nags Head!
Our house gets the BEST sunset views.
I had not been to Kill Devil's in literally 13 years, since my high school beach week! They change their special custard flavor every day. We went after dinner and even though it was close to closing, they were still packed! They only had vanilla left but that's my favorite - I am a frozen custard FIEND, and I remembered it being incredible. It exceeded my expectations! I cannot wait another 13 years to visit again, hopefully it won't be more than 13 months!
What's going on in this picture? WELL, on Thursday I thought it would be FUNNY to drop the Bocce jack down a crab hole to see how deep it went, and it took us a LOT of digging to find it. NEVER AGAIN 😂 I was SWEATING thinking we'd never find it again, but we did. My brother said it was the funniest thing that happned all week so at least someone was laughing.
$0.20 shrimp happy hour at Fish Heads! I was taking a shower and Kenny shrimped without me. 😂
That evening, my bestie Nancy Carrie FaceTimed me and told me she got ENGAGED!! I am so freaking excited for her, I love her fiance and they are so well matched. They have their wedding date set and I cannot wait!! Having best friend weddings two summers in a row is going to be the best.
I looove my American flag sweaters in the summer - I posted a bunch of my favorites here!
My dad's not big on getting re-sandy after leaving the beach once and showering, but he graced us with his presence for our Thursday evening sunset walk. 😂
Cuties. 😍
A bunch of fish were washed up and I tried to kick this one out of the way and it sliced my toe open. LESSON LEARNED!
It's a long way to heaven but a short drive to the Outer Banks.
Sigh....
We try to play games as often as we can! We also sang some major karaoke this night but I'll spare you the blurry photos. 😂
Last beach day, the worst feeling!! We caught this lady crab which I don't think I've ever seen before - it was so cool!
In other wildlife news, we spent the morning watching a big turtle (not a sea turtle) make a nest in our yard, lay eggs, and bury them. In the afternoon we were at the pool and it started to rain so we were heading inside and saw this huge king snake heading toward the nest! It spent a long time digging up the turtle nest and eating the eggs!! Carmen and I kind of wanted to intervene but didn't - that's just nature for you!
For our last supper, we put our names in at Fish Heads and played Apples to Apples while we waited.
My brother and Carmen were menaces with a clothespin all night. 😂
Mom and dad!
One last order of tuna bites!
After dinner we played Incohearant which I had never played before but got pretty good at it. Can you tell what these cards are saying??
xoxx, Laura
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